Bezel assembly



May 15, 1962 S. W. JOURDAN BEZEL ASSEMBLY Filed June 2, '1958 INVENTOR. 5n vars/e W. Joana/aw.

United States Patent 3,034,612 BEZEL ASSEMBLY Sylvester W. Jourdan, Evansville, Ind., assignor to Bootz Manufacturing Company, Inc., Evansville, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Filed June 2, 1958, Ser. No. 739,327 4 Claims. (Cl. 189-36) The present invention relates to decorative trim and more particularly to a new and improved corner trim assembly which may be readily and effectively assembled into a rigid frame at any desired place of use.

It is well-known that with the design of home appliances, such as refrigerators and cooking ranges, for example, much consideration is now being directed to the built-in concept. Where a home appliance is to be installed as a built-in unit, it is desirable to frame the front of the appliance with a decorative trim to provide an attractive installation. The decorative trim used for these purposes of framing oftentimes is shipped from a considerable distance to the place of the appliance manufacturing. With the trim heretofore in use, the frame was assembled at the plant and shipping resulted in bulky and costly packaging problems and oftentimes damaged goods. Moreover, a difficulty with these previous types of decorative trims was the presence of unsightly gaps due to assembly problems in joining the respective trim sections to form a corner structure.

By virtue of the applicants novel invention, a bezel assembly is provided which may be readily assembled, Where desired and without tools, to form a rigid four-piece frame which is easily locked into position. The bezel assembly includes backed-up corners to provide added strength thereto as well as improved appearance in the area of the mitered joints. Moreover, the applicants novel invention may be shipped in knocked-down or disassembled form to achieve smaller and less bulky packages and hence afford savings in shipping costs.

The principal object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a bezel assembly which may be readily assembled at the point of use thereof.

. Another object of the present invention is to provide a bezel assembly which may be assembled without tools and readily locked into a strong and rigid position for use.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bezel assembly having backed-up corners for added strength and close fitting mitered joints to effect a gapless finished structure.

A further and more general object of the invention is to provide a bezel assembly which may be shipped in disassembled form to afford savings in shipping costs.

Other objects and a better understanding of the invention will become more apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a view in perspective, partially fragmentary, of an assembled corner trim structure in accordance with the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in perspective, partially fragmentary, showing the corner trim structure of FIG. 1 disassembled;

FIG. 3 is a view in perspective, partially fragmentary, of another form of corner trim structure in accordance with the instant invention;

FIG. 4 is a view in perspective, partially fragmentary, showing the corner trim structure of FIG. 3 disassembled; and,

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the assembled corner trim structure of FIGS. 3 and 4.

For thepurposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings ice and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated devices, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the applicants novel bezel assembly 10 comprises, in a typical embodiment, members 11 and 12 which, for example, may be made from stainless steel. Member 11 has a frame portion 11a of any desired length and cross-section, with an angled end 11b thereon having, in vertical section, downwardly extending flanges 11c and 11d. The angled end 11b is preferably formed from the frame portion 11a and folded into position to form an integral piece, with the angled end 11b being secured to the frame portion 11a through a spot Welded tab (not shown), for example. A tab He is provided on flange 110 of the angled end 11b, with tab lie being bent slightly inwardly out of the plane of the flange 11c. It should be noted that the portion of the tab 11e furthest from the free edge of the angled end 1111 is bent inwardly slightly more than the other side edge thereof, for reasons to be discussed herebelow.

Member 12 has a tab 12a provided in a downwardly extending flange 12b thereof, with tab 12a being bent inside member 12, i.e. out of the plane of the flange 12b. Tab 12a is bent so that the portion thereof nearest the free edge of the member 12 is further inside the plane of flange 12b than the remainder thereof, which arrangement provides a lead-in edge for easy use, to be discussed herebelow. It should be noted that the leading edge of member 12 is angled so that, when assembled, it will be coincident with a seam 11] between the frame portion 11a and the angled end 11b of member 11. The latter is particularly desirable inasmuch as the assembled corner trim structure is then effectively backed to provide added strength to the joint.

In use, member 12 is urged over the angled end 11b of member 11 so that flange 11d is complementary With a flange of member 12. During assembly, tab 11:: on member 11 is urged into the lead-in edge of tab 12a on flange 12b of member 12. As members 11 and 12 are pushed together, tab 112 ultimately snaps beyond tab 12a and the lagging edge of tab 11e is to the right of tab 12a, in FIG. 2, when finally assembled. Such a par ticular configuration of tab structure affords an effective locking of the members 11 and 12 in view of the fact that the portion of tab 112 adjacent the lagging edge was angled inwardly beyond the plane of the flange 1212. When members 11 and 12 are in assembled position, as discussed above, the free edge of member 12 is coincident with the joint 11 on member 11, which arrangement provides a strong and rigid corner trim assembly.

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 disclose another typical embodiment of the applicants instant invention which utilizes basic trim members having a different, yet conventional, characteristic cross-section from that disclosed in the embodiment discussed above. The bezel assembly 20 of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 include three separate components which, when assembled, form a rigid corner trim structure.

The alternate bezel assembly 20 comprises members 21 and 22, each of which are mitered so that the free edges thereof engage each other when assembled. Each of the members 21 and 22 have downwardly and inwardly extending flanges 21a and 22a, respectively, which are provided with a notch 21b and 22b, respectively, near one end thereof. A connecting member 23 is designed so as to be received into the free ends of the members 21 and 22. The connecting member 23 has upstanding portions 2 3a and 2311 at each of the free feeding edges thereof, the upstanding portions 23a and 2312 each being complementary with and adapted to be received by the notches 21b and 22b in the flanges 21a and 22a of members 21 and 22., when assembled.

In use, the bezel assembly 20 is joined by inserting the connecting member 23 into the mitered end of the member 21 until the upstanding portion 23a thereof snaps into the notch 21b provided in the downwardly and inwardly extending flange 21a thereof. A similar assembly operation is accomplished between the other upstanding portion 23b of connecting member 23 and the notch 22b in the downwardly and inwardly extending flange 22a of the member 22. it should be apparent, therefore, that when the bezel assembly 20 of FIGS. 3, 4 and is joined, a very strong corner is achieved. The connecting member 23 also serves as a backing for the corner trim structure which thereby improves the appearance of the mitered joint by eliminating the possibility of the passage of light therethrough should there have been any irregularities in the joint itself.

From the preceding, it should be apparent that the applicant has provided a novel bezel assembly which may be readily assembled and locked into position, without tools, and at any desired place of use, which provides a rigid corner structure having close fitting mitered joints, and which because of its ease in assembly may be shipped disassembled to afford savings in shipping costs.

The bezel assembly described herein is susceptible to various changes within the spirit of the invention. For example, although the members shown herein are joined at right angles to each other, it should be apparent that the members may be positioned at any desired angle with respect to each other. Moreover, in the form of invention disclosed in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, both downwardly and inwardly extending flanges in each member may have a notch therein to receive a slightly wider upstanding portion of the connecting member. Furthermore, the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2 and FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 may be modified into three or two components, respectively, for equally effective locking use. Thus, the above description should be considered illustrative and not as limiting the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A trim assembly comprising a first frame member having an angled connecting portion disposed at an end thereof having a downwardly extending flange defining an inside wall, a tab disposed on and bent out of the plane of said downwardly extending flange, a second frame member having a downwardly extending flange defining an inside wall, and a tab disposed on and bent out of the plane of said downwardly extending flange, said tab on said connecting portion of said first frame member adapted to slide by said tab on said second frame member to lock said tabs of said first and said second frame members together in a side edge adjacent side edge relationship.

2. A trim assembly comprising a first frame member and a second frame member, said first frame member having an angled connecting portion disposed at an end thereof having a downwardly extending flange defining an inside wall on which an inwardly bent tab is disposed, said second frame member having a downwardly extending flange defining an inside wall on which an inwardly bent tab is disposed, said inwardly bent tab on said connecting portion of said first frame member adapted to slide by said inwardly bent tab on said second frame member to lock said tabs of said first and said second frame members together in a side edge adjacent side edge relationship.

3. A trim assembly comprising a first frame member and a second frame member, said first frame member having a connecting portion at an end thereof having a downwardly extending flange defining an inside wall on which a tab is positioned and bent out of the plane thereof, sald second frame member having a tab positioned on and bent out of the plane of a downwardly extending flange defining an inside Wall thereof, said tab on said second frame member adapted to slide by said tab on said connecting portion of said first frame member and locking together so that lagging edges on each of said tabs are adjacent each other in a side by side relationship.

4. A trim assembly comprising a first frame member and a second frame member, said first frame member having a connecting portion at an end thereof having a downwardly extending flange defining an inside wall on which an inwardly bent tab is positioned, said second frame member having an inwardly bent tab positioned on a downwardly extending flange defining an inside wall thereof, said inwardly bent tab on said second frame member cooperating with said inwardly bent tab on said connecting portion of said first frame member and locking together so that lagging edges on each of said tabs defined by the joining of said first frame member and said second frame member are adjacent each other in a sideby-side relationship.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,561,470 Kihm Nov. 17, 1925 1,881,279 Kessler Oct. 4, 1932 2,023,604 Lovejoy Dec. 10, 1935 2,161,396 Wittel June 6, 1939 2,627,948 Farr Feb. 10, 1953 2,653,686 Routt Sept. 29, 1953 2,869,694 Breckheimer Jan. 20, 1959 2,919,021 Robinson et al. Dec. 29, 1959 2,931,674 Davies Apr. 5, 1960 

